The Ghost in The Machine
by huayra207
Summary: How can a dead man influence a living legend? And how can a suit help them all?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – The Distress Call  
SSV Normandy**

It is 01.35 AM in the Normandy. Almost every non-essential crew member is sleeping. Commander Shepard is among the ones who can't sleep. The Prothean visions kept on flaring up, with gruesome images, deaths, and screaming. She went into the elevator, going to the crew deck to sit on the mess hall. The mess hall itself is empty. She grabbed a snack bar, then proceeds to eat the block of nutrients. The sensation of the Normandy itself is quite eerie, considering that the normally bustling hall is empty. Even so, she could hear people snoring, cuddling up with their bolsters, or pillows, or anything the crew have on hold.

"So much for sleeping, then…" Shepard mutters, as she eat the bar of nutrients. She then went to the beverage machine, procuring what looks like Arabica coffee, and drank the whole thing up. But by the look of things, waking up that late have no perks. She returned to her spacious captain's chamber. A large aquarium is placed on the wall, showcasing…. Nothing, because she never bothered on filling the aquarium. She then jumped to her bed, and she slumped to the cushion. Suddenly, her omni-tool starts on beeping. It's Joker.

"Joker, what the hell are you doing? Stalking me in my bed?" Shepard grunts.

"I wish, but we got a distress call, from a nearby planet. He said something about something important to take a look at. You wanna hear the message, commander?" Joker replied.

"I got nothing to do anyways. Shoot."

The omni-tool then played the signal.

"To the SSV Normandy – Shepard, I need help! The geth have breached the defenses of my research station! I have important research especially for you. Please help! A lot of civilians are also in danger! The Alliance marines guarding the research are practically slaughtered! Please, help…." And the message goes dead.

"Wanna take a look, Shepard?" Joker asked.

"Finally, I feel important… The guy basically knows about me! We're going in. The guy's probably dead, though. Wake up the squad. I want Kaiden and Ashley in the briefing room, ASAP!" Shepard said.

"Aye-aye, Commander!" Joker exasperated.

Luckily for Joker, Shepard didn't notice the slightest hint of sarcasm in his reply. Shepard then grabbed her armor. It is not that heavy in weight, considering that she needs to charge ahead to attack. She then grabbed her custom-designed shotgun. It is fabricated by Hahne-Kedar. The shotgun itself is capable of breaching armor. She pressed a button on it, and it shrunk to a small rectangular size, then latched it on her waist. She then grabbed her trusty M3 Predator pistol. It is specially fabricated for Shepard, with a mass-accelerator system that would easily kill a person with a shot, even when wearing a helmet. It is also equipped with a scope to augment its custom mass-accelerator. She holstered the pistol to her thigh, then she grabbed her SMG. It is an M9 Tempest, specially designed with recoil reduction laser sights to decimate targets in medium range.

"Right, time to rock and roll." She muttered to herself.

Hastily, she called the elevator to her captain's cabin. The elevator arrived, and quickly Shepard walked into it. Weirdly enough, it took several seconds just for the elevator to reach the designated floor. She paced herself to the briefing room, with Kaiden and Ashley waiting on the chairs.

"Lemme guess… There's a distress call from somewhere, and we're supposed to answer." Ashley remarked.

"Correct. We have received a distress call from a research laboratory. The weird thing is, the message didn't refer to us as a ship or refer to me, the CO as, well, the CO. The man himself referred to our ship as the Normandy, while referring to me as Shepard."

"So? What's your point?" Ashley asked.

"The guy had a surprise waiting for us, I think. I mean, who else is going to be able to detect the Normandy now? We're on stealth mode." Shepard said.

"Good point." Kaidan commented.

"What's the plan then, Commander?" Ashley asked.

"We head in, kill the geth, extract the scientist, while also questioning him on knowing our position and identity. Kapish?" Sheapard replied.

"Kapish." Kaiden and Ashley shouted in unison.

"Okay. Joker, prepare the Mako. We're landing on this planet." Shepard said to the intercom.

The squad then assembled to the garage, where they assembled inside the Mako. Shepard entered the cockpit. She prepared and checked the Mako before the drop. Not long after, the cargo door opened, along with the ship's VI notifying that the cargo hold's open. The Mako then drove out to the planet. The planet itself is sandy, with no signs of life. It is quite reminiscent of a barren wasteland.

As they fall, the thrusters activate, cushioning its land to the planet. A satisfying circle of sand then emanate from the ground. Shepard then stepped the throttle, bringing the engine to life as it ran across the sandy terrain.

"Ashley, man the cannon." Shepard commanded.

"Aye-aye, Commander. But what do you think? Strange guys stalking at us? Knowing the position of the covered Normandy? What is he, an obsessed scientist?" Ashley remarked, as she went to the cannon controls.

"Yeah. What does this guy do? I mean, this could be a trap. Look at it. We're on a weird sandy planet, it's not even dusk in the Normandy, and the guy specifically referred to us. Is this a geth trap?" Kaiden said.

"Whatever. Just keep your eyes peeled." Shepard said.

"Yeah, we don't exactly have peelers." Ashley joked. But suddenly, Shepard yanked the controls of the Mako. The vehicle jerked violently to the left. In the motion, Ashley's foot hit the hatch's very thin walls.

"What the hell is that for? Can't you take a little joke?" Ashley complained.

"How about you, Chief?" Shepard said, as she made a little chuckle.

The rest of the journey to the scientific station is made in silence. About fifteen minutes later, a small station can be seen in the vast desert. The station itself is white, in contrast to the planet's red sands. As the Mako approaches the station though, a geth armature could be seen. It panicked and fired on the Mako, alerting other geths in the vicinity."

"Geth!" Shepard exclaimed.

Ashley then pushed the cannon's controls. It fired a cannon to the armature. But the thing wouldn't quit. It kept on firing while the geth troopers advance towards the Mako. As the shields kept on lowering, Shepard kept on driving erratically, in hopes of dodging enemy fire. Ashley kept on shooting the geth armature while the cannon cooled down. But it kept on shooting projectiles. Shepard did her best on evading the projectiles, but some of them kept on hitting the Mako. But eventually, the cannon did cool down.

"Eat this, you motherfucking robot!" Ashley exclaimed. As she did so, the cannon fired, piercing the geth armature's metallic casing. A satisfying explosion is seen later, as Ashley dealt with the other geth troopers. One by one, the geth tumbled down as the machine gun's ammo hits each of the geth. Soon enough, the last geth dropped dead, as Ashley fired the cannon to the robot.

Finally, the scientific station is in view. The Mako halted as Shepard slammed the brakes, jerking the vehicle violently forward as the squad is pulled by the inertia. Again.

"You just can't drive, can't you Commander?" Ashley grumbled.

"Special driving comfort just for you, Chief." Shepard joked.

Ashley chuckled on the remark, as they proceed on a delta formation. Shepard leads the squad, as they entered the hallways of the scientific station. There, they found a thick door, along with a screen. In it, a futuristic suit is visible along with a man, in a scientific robe. He is wielding a volus-produced rifle. The hallway itself is full of corpses. It is littered with dead soldiers, along with the geth. The funny thing is, there is no geth visible in the blood-stained white hallway. Instead, a single Alliance soldier is sitting while panting heavily. Blood is gushing from his leg wound.

Shepard grabbed a medi-gel kit, applying it on the downed soldier.

"State your name and rank." Shepard said.

"Private Duncan Shields, ma'am. I presume you're Commander Shepard." The downed soldier said.

"Yes, I am. How do you know my identity?" Shepard asked.

"Don't ask me. Joe the scientist told us all about this. Said to us to prepare for an incoming attack. Said he had a vibe. Suddenly you showed up on our radars, along with the geth. We fought, while also protecting the scientist. Luckily, you came and killed the geth. Heh, the lady with the black armor saved us. Hooray." The soldier remarked.

"Watch your words, Private. I could strip you off your ranks. What's the code for the blast door? And where are your comrades?" Shepard questioned.

"I'm the last guy standing. The code is five-five-three-eight. Make it quick. More geth are coming." Shepard said.

"Noted. Kaiden, open the blast dors!" Shepard commanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" Kaiden submitted.

The controls are then pressed, with Kaiden entering the corresponding password. The blast door then opened, revealing a young man in a lab coat. He looked confident, strangely enough. He pointed the gun at the squad.

"Identify yourselves." The man said.

"I'm Commander Shepard. This is Kaiden Alenko and Ashley Williams. We're all crew of the Normandy." Shepard said. "But how do you know 'bout the Normandy and its position?"

As the man lowered the rifle, he said, "Every one of us has our own secrets. Captain Joseph Adriel here, of the Alliance N7 Marine."

"What the hell is a marine doing here, on a research station, while dressed in the lab coat?" Shepard asked.

"The suit. That is my life's work. It is a technological marvel that I hope will protect us against future threats. It is called the Nanosuit, but I will explain that to you later. But there's a catch. This is made with Collector and Reaper technology, or at least it's augmented with that technology. I made a promise with these guys that unfortunately, I didn't keep. They will be after me. So now, I will have to dispose of my current body." Joseph said, grimly.

"You WHAT!? How are you going to do that?" Shepard shouted.

"Strap me in that chair. Pull the lever if I said to you to do so." Joseph said.

As he strapped himself to the metallic chair, Shepard then pulled the lever. "But wait, what does this do?" Shepard asked.

"Questions later. What you need to do afterwards is get the suit in the briefcase and leave! The geth are coming soon, ASAP!" Joseph said.

As the machine whirred up, Joseph shouted in pain, and swore, "GODDAMIT! KEEP ON PULLING THE LEVER TILL THE EKG SAID THAT I'M DEAD! KEEP PULLING!"

Shepard replied, "KILL YOU? FUCK THAT!"

"I'M AS GOOD AS DEAD SHEPARD! FUUUUCK! I OWE THE REAPERS! I MADE THE DEAL WITH THE DEVIL! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCKKKKKKKKKKKK! Urgh…." Joseph said.

The EKG showed that Joseph's dead. Shepard then grabbed the suit referred to as the Nanosuit, while commanding to his squad, "Get in the Mako! Grab Pvt. Shields, we're leaving this post!" Shepard commanded.

Kaiden proceeded on by hoisting the downed soldier. The soldier asked, "What about the doc? Where is he?"

"He's dead." Shepard replied.

**Author's Note: Whew! I started with a long chapter. Do please review about my writing and please also review about my conversation scenes and my fighting scenes. Thank you for reading. BTW, what happened to Joseph, anyways? What do you think? And how will the squad react to Shepard's questionable actions? And what the fuck is a Nano-Suit doing in a Mass Effect fan-fiction? Read the next chapter to find out! BTW, thank you for reading! And again, please review!**

**P.S. – Update rates are going to be once per two weeks, since I'm now facing my finals. But June's update rates are probably going to be quick. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note : Thank you for all of you readers that reviewed my new fan-fic. By the way, I forgot to talk about the copyright issues, so here you go…**

**Mass Effect, Crysis, Commander Shepard, and the Nanosuit all belongs to Electronic Arts. I don't own any of them. **

**And Shepard? She's a spacer with the War Hero background. The story, by the way, takes place in 2183, in the events of Mass Effect 1. BTW, before you question me about Mars, being in Mass Effect 1, I based the Mars station on the one found in Mass Effect 3. Although, the landing site and the layout of the Mars station in this fan-fic is different, I'm going to keep the design language same. And if someone noticed that the fan-fic is non-cannon, yeah, you're right. But then, some great stories didn't really follow the cannon, right?**

**The Surface of Planet Mars**

To be sure of the doctor's death, Shepard checked the pulse of the doctor. As Shepard pressured the neck for any signs of life, the numb, cold body showed nothing. Shepard still couldn't believe the fact that she assisted someone else's suicide. But the crew is not going to question Shepard's decision, shown by the fact that the doctor himself asked Shepard to pull the 'death' lever. But the grim situation is interrupted by a shout.

"Geth!" Ashley shouted.

The shout resulted in the squad getting behind cover, with Shepard pulling the black briefcase to safety. As the geth fired, Shepard asked for covering fire. Shepard is rewarded with the satisfying sound of a M76 Revenant rifle shooting. The geth immediately ran into cover, with their metallic bodies clunking with the metallic table in front of the squad. Shepard then 'cooked' a grenade, before throwing it behind the table. A rewarding explosion is heard, when suddenly a geth hopper appeared before the squad's vision.

Shepard responded to the revelation by flaring blue. Less than a second later, Shepard charged directly to the geth hopper. The hit flew the hopper to the wall, and a loud thud could be heard in the otherwise noisy environment. It fell to the ground and drew white fluid, before another geth troper showed itself from cover. It was separated from Shepard by mere inches, before Shepard discharged her shotgun, which resulted in white fluid spewing everywhere. The trooper dropped dead, allowing Shepard to move on.

The squad went through the hallways. It is quite plain, with typical silver walls and white floor. Their exit is visible, when suddenly the blast door sealed shut.

"Kaiden, hack through this door!"

"Right away, ma'am," he answered.

Kaiden tried his best to hack through the door using his omni-tool, but he found himself repeatedly failing on the action. Unfortunately, the rest of the squad is, at best, unable to hack through standard Alliance encryption, due to the lack of experience and training.

"This is a Serrice Council blast door. We'll never hack through this door, Shepard. Not with this omni-tool, anyways," Kaiden complained.

"You know, you can always borrow my omni-tool, if that helps, Kaiden. This omni-tool will-"

Shepard's attempt to help is interrupted by the sudden ascension of the black briefcase. It flew from Shepard's grip, and glowed orange. The squad was shocked by this. They aimed their weapons to the briefcase, when suddenly the blast door opened. The black briefcase then fell back to the ground, causing a loud, thudding sound as it hit the ground.

"I won't need your omni-tool, Shepard," Kaiden said as he smirks.

"Well, that went well. We could use this type of help on our missions," Shepard responded.

That concluded Shepard's visit to the Mars station. But then, Kaiden remembered something.

"Shouldn't we bring the doc's corpse along? I mean, Chakwas might be able to tell us the cause of death," Kaiden suggested.

"Uh… I don't think that it's a good idea to bring a corpse, Kaiden. The med-bay would smell like corpse, and the next time I get shot, I don't want this smell to disturb my sleep, Shepard," Ashley remarked.

"We could always try embalming him, you know?" Shepard joked. "But seriously, don't bring the dead body. It's hunted by the Collectors, the Geth, and the Reapers. That corpse would stop them from hunting Joseph, because he mentioned that the he's hunted by them. We don't need that type of attention."

"Good point, Shepard," Kaiden responded.

The squad continued by moving towards the Mako. Shepard entered the cockpit, while Kaiden and Ashley went into the cabin. The trip to the Normandy is carried on silence. Mile by mile, the engine rumbled as it plodded along the sandy surface. Before long, Shepard made radio contact to the Normandy for a pick-up.

"Joker, I need an extraction," Shepard said.

"Your wish is my command, Shepard. Landing the Normandy now," Joker responded. "Wha'dya get?"

"A black briefcase, Joker. A black briefcase," Shepard responded.

The conversation is concluded when the Normandy landed on the planet. Its silver surface is sheathed under the red sand that ascended to the ship as it lands. Shepard drove the Mako into the cargo bay, before disembarking. The Normandy took off afterwards.

Less than 10 minutes to the ascension, Shepard went to the elevator door. She called the lift, which opened immediately.

"What time is it, Kaiden?" Shepard asked.

"0458 hours, Shepard," Kaiden responded.

"Fuck," Shepard swore.

The squad entered the elevator. It went down, with Ashley and Kaiden disembarking at the crew deck. Shepard went down further to the captain's quarters. A few minutes later, Shepard left the elevator and entered her quarters. The caffeine from her Arabica coffee hasn't wore off, so she is left, feeling tired but buzzed.

"Shouldn't drink the fucking coffee, I think," Shepard muttered. She then turned on the video screen of her cabin. She selected a sitcom using the omni-tool. That action rewarded her with a video playing afterwards.

The sitcom is titled "How I Met Your Mother", starring Josh Radnor. The sitcom tells a story about a man's journey to meeting her wife.

The sitcom is quite funny, with Shepard laughing full-heartedly in some scenes. Sleepiness ensued, so Shepard turned off the video screen and removed her armor. She went to the bathroom, where she opened her under-suit and replaced them with casual clothing. She went to bed, finally able to continue her slumber.

**Four Hours Later  
0933 HOURS, NORMANDY TIME**

Shepard opened her eyes. After a good rest, she found herself feeling rather fresh. Her train of thought then brought her back to the black briefcase. She stood up to the metallic floor, when her bare foot contacted the cold, bare metal of the Normandy's flooring. To counteract this, she wore her shoes and headed to the table, which holds the black briefcase. The black briefcase is compact-sized. It has two latches on the front. Shepard proceeded by unlatching the briefcase. The opened briefcase revealed a black chest plate. Shepard pulled out the chest plate, revealing a crudely-written post-it note, and saying: "Only for use by Commander Shepard of the Alliance Marines. Please disrobe completely before using the suit."

This piqued interest in Shepard. She attempted on latching the chest plate to her fully-clothed body, but that yielded no results. Reluctantly, she brought the chest plate to the bathroom. She locked the door, and started on undressing herself. But then, she realized that she hasn't taken a bath for the last four days. So Shepard stepped into the shower, twisting the lever. This resulted in a stream of cold water hitting Shepard's body. Not long after, she applied soap to her body. To conclude this, she rinsed herself clean off the soap, dries herself, and moved to the counter. She then stuck the chest plate to her bare chest. She then proceeded removed her hands. To her amazement, the plate didn't fall. Instead, the titanium frame that holds it is ejected, and the plate expanded, covering her whole body. Shepard panicked, but her body can't move. The process ended as soon as it began. Suddenly, an HUD covered her field of vision. It said:

**ADJUSTING TO USER'S BIOLOGY. PLEASE WAIT.  
SCANNING…..  
SPECIES OF USER: HUMAN  
IDENTITY: SHEPARD, JANET  
BLOOD TYPE: A  
CHECKING DNA AND ORGANS…**

**COMPLETE.**

The HUD disappeared within minutes, but was continued by a new prompt. It said:

**SYNCING WITH USER…  
PLEASE WAIT….**

As the HUD showed her that, she felt a sudden jolt of pain. It is overwhelming, as the pain spreads to her whole body. It felt as if her body was to be placed in a tub of volcano lava. But within seconds, the pain subsided. The HUD showed a prompt, saying:

**SYNC COMPLETE. SUIT READY FOR USE.**

To her relief, as the prompt disappears, her body was mobile yet again. But she felt bare. She felt as if her body wasn't in fact covered by the black suit. She ignored the fact though, considering that the suit covered her whole body. But then...

"Hello, Shepard. It's me, Joseph. It's the doctor that you 'killed'," the voice said.

"What the…. Who the hell are you? I didn't kill you, I pulled the lever and you died! And can someone give me an explanation about the fucking suit?" Shepard demanded.

"I told you. I am Joseph Adriel, the N7 Captain/Scientist in the Mars facility. You didn't kill me, thankfully. You merely removed me from my body and placed me instead to the suit, as I intended," Joseph answered.

"Screw that, I don't fucking care what's your state. I want an explanation. Now!" Shepard shouted.

"Oh fine… I told you, the suit functioned as a vessel for me. This very suit is a very capable combat/life-sustaining/whatever you want suit. It can protect you from a high amount of damage, it is capable of healing you very quickly, and it doesn't interfere with your senses. This is shown by the fact that your bare body felt… Bare. And Shepard, in case you're wondering, I can feel your body, but I couldn't see it, not that it matters," Joseph's voice said.

"OK. May I remove it now, please?" Shepard asked. "I do want further explanation about this thing, though…"

"First question's answer: NO. This suit is now a part of your body. Unless you really need to remove this suit, the answer is no. I know, you want to return to your normal state of life and everything, and blah, blah, blah. I don't give a shit, because it's a part of you. And Shepard? I do owe you an explanation, and I'll explain to you everything as it comes. _Ngerti gak?" _Joseph said.

"What the fuck do you said in the last words?" Shepard asked.

"Ma'am, do please watch your language. And second of all, the last phrase is the casual Indonesian phrase for 'do you understand'," Joseph answered. "And do please understand the fact that you'll need this suit. The threat that you have coming means that any other combat armor simply won't do. For instance, do the Alliance, Turian Hierarchy, or Asari people have an armor that can a direct hit from a rocket launcher? Hell, is there such technology that you can wear to prevent damage from a rocket launcher?"

"No," Shepard answered. "But you do owe me further explanation."

"Trust me, I'll hold that demand as long as you follow my instruction. And my first instruction is for you to go tell the crew about your new suit. I'll help you with the words you should say." Joseph responded. "Kapish?"

"Kapish."

**Author's Note: Well, there you have it… Shepard finally wore the Nanosuit. How would the squad react towards the Nanosuit? Do please give suggestions in the form of reviews. And, speaking of reviews, if you enjoy reading this fan-fic, do please review! Your opinions will surely improve my fan-fic! Thank you very much for reading, and until the next chapter, goodbye.**


End file.
